


How To Properly Care For A Loki, A comprehensive guide written by Hela

by RoanOaks



Category: Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: AMNESIA! Loki, AU, Loki has no memories because his daughter is sweet and wonderful and erased them, M/M, Multi, Post Avengers Movie, Whoop Whoop, amnesiac!Loki, and then stuffed him in a box, for real tho, its okay though she left a How To Take Care Of Loki booklet, loki lost his memories to, loki was stuffed in a box, lol loki loki lost his memories, lost his memories! Loki, puns, see what i did there?, this au is GREAT, whooP
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-19
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-02-04 04:09:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 10,861
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12762846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RoanOaks/pseuds/RoanOaks
Summary: After the Avengers, Loki runs off to Hela, his daughter. His daughter erases his memories about Midgard and Thanos, stuffs him in a box, and ships him back to Midgard. She has also written a booklet, which she left with the box. It details how one should care for Loki.A few ways include making sure he's had a proper amount of sunlight, making sure he drinks the proper amount of sunlight, and for the gods fucking sakes, get him away from the books once in a while.But the Avengers are NOT going to deal with him, so naturally they push him onto Bruce. Woohoo, now Bruce get's to take care of Loki. Who has an alarmingly small amount of care for himself. Fun!





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Heeey so THIS first chap is more of a Prologur, but after this, I'm going to name the chapters after lines in the booklet Hela made and use these beginning notes to describe what else she's written on the subject.
> 
> Let's see how long it takes for Cel to notice I made this.
> 
> Last note until the end, Cel didn't edit this so I'm sorry in advance for any errors I have.
> 
> PS: If you see any symbols similar to â€™ tell me, please. They always show up when I copy and pste chaps frm my google docs on rich text and sometimes I don't catch them.

Loki had been sitting in the box for somewhere around three hours now. He wasn't even sure how he was stuffed into the box, but he was in it and there was a breathing hole and everything. He was sure one of his children did it, specifically Hela since he  _ had  _ just been visiting her three hours ago and this did seem like a Hela thing to do, whatever  _ it  _ was.

****

What was worse was he didn't know where he was headed. That may have scared him had he not been reading a book. Whoever stuffed him in the box knew this would calm him. And he still had his magic, but unfortunately it didn't seem to have any effect when he tried to break open the box. This would all have been very concerning, but, again, book.

****

The box suddenly jolted, which made Loki lose track of his place on the sentence. He was about to snap angrily when he again realized he was in a box, and therefore had no one to snap angrily to. He grumbled under his breath as he tried to find his place. He found it again.

****

There was some people talking outside the box, which distracted him. He glared at what he could only assume was the top of the box. He was about to tell them to be quiet, but the lid was removed and light flooded in.

****

He blinked a few times as his eyes adjusted.

****

"I'm trying to read." He stated, not entirely sure where he was and not caring because the book was at it's climax and he wanted to finish it. He went back to the book.

****

"Brother?" Came a voice that sounded suspiciously like his not-brother. Loki closed the book. He faced the source of the voice and there, with his blond hair and the radiance of perfection he deeply loathed, was Thor.

****

" _Wonderful_ , I've been trapped in a box for three hours and when it's finally opened, it's you I have to see first." Loki snapped sarcastically. 

****

"Are you alright, brother?" Thor questioned curiously. Loki could tell there were others in the room, but he kept his glare on The.

****

"Just fine." Loki stated, again armed with sarcastic venom as he continued on, "I've only been in a box for three hours, and now I'm here, where ever here is. I'm not harmed, I'm not mortally wounded, as you can see. Just _fine_ , Thor."

****

"You're on Midgard." Thor said, in a tone that said something similiar to, _please stop being snippy and sarcastic because I'm an overgrown puppy._ At least, that's what Loki chose to believe the tone of voice conveyed.

****

"That realm you love so dearly?" Loki questioned, huffing as he went to returning back to his book. "Honestly, it's such an awful place, not even worth invading, truth be told. Why _do_ you love it so?"

****

"But didn't you just try to invade it, brother?" Thor questioned in confusion. Loki glared at him.

****

"Obviously not, Thor, because I've been stuck in this box for three hours and, as I've just stated, Midgard is not worth invading." Loki snapped. Thor's brow furrowed in confusion.

****

"But, brother, we just defeated you five hours ago." Thor argued. Loki rolled his eyes.

****

"I can assure you, I was at Hela's five hours ago." He stated, then added, "Was she the one that sent me here? She's always doing strange things in order to _help_ me, as she puts it."

****

"No, brother, you were definitely here five hours ago. You asked for a drink before disappearing." Thor argued again, "We thought you'd fled."

****

"Why would I flee from you?" Loki asked incredulously, "And who's this _we_? Are you speaking of that Midgardian woman you fell for?"

****

"No, brother, I'm speaking of the Avengers, my team who assisted me in defeating you, as you should remember." Thor responded. Loki sighed.

****

"No one has defeated me," Loki argued. "because I have not done anything that would require my defeat."

****

"But, brother," Thor began, before deciding it was pointless to argue. Loki took the time to inspect the others in the room.

****

"Who are these brightly clad fools? Friends of Thor, I presume?" Loki questioned, "The team that has apparently helped defeat me?"

****

"No, I'm pretty sure we defeated you." Tony called up, and Loki noticed the blue glowing circle in his chest.

****

"What's that?" He asked curiously.

****

"My arc reactor. You were acquainted with it when you tried to brainwash me, and failed." Tony responded. Loki sighed in exasperation.

****

"Brainwash? Why would I brainwash a Midgardian? Your lives are to short to make proper servants." He argued.

****

"I don't know why you did it." Tony responded. Loki sighed.

****

"Right, if Hela sent me here, she must have sent something explaining why." Loki said, mostly to himself, rising from the box and stretching before checking his person for any notes or anything to tip him off as to why he was on this miserable stretch of planet.

****

"Like this?" Someone behind asked, voice rather hostile. He turned his head to see _another_ blonde holding up a booklet. He cringed at the title.

****

" _How to Properly Care For A Loki, a comprehensive guide written by Hela_." Loki read aloud. He sighed, mostly to himself.

****

"Brother, do you truly not remember trying to invade Midgard?" Thor asked, and Loki turned to him, arms crossed. He huffed.

****

"For the last time, Midgard is not worth invading. I would never want to invade it." Loki snapped, and then added, "And why do you insist on calling me brother?"

****

"You are still my brother." Thor stated indignantly, and Loki groaned. He combed his fingers through his hair, feeling knots. He used the ribbon tied around his wrist to pull his hair into a ponytail. He rolled his eyes.

****

"Save your dramatic speech about how family is more than blood. You've already done that. That lead to me falling off the bifrost. Which reminds me, how are you here? The bifrost was destroyed if I remember correctly."

****

"Brother, what do you remember?" Thor asked curiously. Loki tried to recall.

****

"Well, you were banished and I took reign over the throne," Loki began, "Then I killed Laufey, sent the destroyer after you, then," Loki's brow furrowed for a moment, as if remembering something unpleasant.

****

"Then what?" Thor pressed,

****

"I fell, then," Loki's brow furrowed as he tried to find memories that weren't there, "Then," He looked up, "Then I arrived at Hela's, who stuffed me in a box for three hours and shipped me over here like some object. Which I am not." Loki stated.

****

"No, you're less." Came a hostile voice, and Loki's brow furrowed.

****

"I.." His voice faltered, because there was something he was missing, something he couldn't remember and it was just out of his reach. He shook his head and glared at the owner of the voice,

****

"Brother?" Thor spoke, and Loki's glare returned.

****

"How do I get home?" He asked warily, "If that even exists anymore."

 

"Of course it exists-" Thor began.   


  
" Save it." Loki snapped.

****

"We need to arrest you," Steve began, and he stepped forward, grabbing Loki's wrist. Loki felt panic flood his system for a reason he couldn't identify.

****

"Don't touch me." He hissed, shaking. He couldn't find the source of his fear, it was placed in those memories he couldn't reach. The ones that were right there, at the tip of his metaphorical tongue. The fear subsided quickly once the contact was removed.

****

Loki was suddenly aware of the three in the room, and he stepped out of the box, snapping his fingers and making them disappear. He spun around in a slow circle and saw the destroyed room and the chaos outside, and it seemed familiar. He tried to reach for those memories again, but it left him feeling worse. He felt like he was sinking.

****

"I take it this is the apparent calamity I caused?" Loki questioned, walking out to the balcony-like area to see.

****

"Aye, brother," Thor confirmed. Loki's brow furrowed.

  
" I didn't." Loki stated, turning to Thor. "I didn't."

****

"But you did." Tony responded before Thor could. Loki felt the world spin. There was no way.

****

"I didn't." He repeated. "Hela- I was with Hela."

****

"Brother-"

****

"Don't call me brother." Loki snapped. People flooded into the floor, then, clad in strange armor and waving guns. SHIELD in bright white letters on their chests and backs, and they were running towards him. He snapped his fingers, and watched them all fall asleep.

****

"Brother, come quietly, please." Thor spoke, and Loki sighed.

****

"If I must."


	2. Make Sure Loki Has A Nice Room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This room should include windows, bookshelves, a bed, a closet, and a dresser. Also, a bathroom if at all possible. Do not put anything in the room. Allow him to buy or bring things for his room. Do not assume you know what he likes. Doing so may end with you being yelled at. One should also establish a set of house rules with Loki.

**_Warning* Contents of box may be unfriendly, sarcastic, and rather like a child in certain situations. Please handle with care._ **

 

 

Loki had been sitting in that stifling room for hours now. Honestly, he felt as though he had just upgraded from a smaller box, with a book, to a bigger box, with no book. He felt cheated. He would like to return to his small box and book.

****

"Can I go back to my box and book?"� Loki asked into the air, "It's stifling and boring in here."�

****

"No, brother."� Thor responded, "Please wait. We are trying to decide what to do with you."�

****

"You act as though I am not here. If you are to decide my fate and speak of me, at least have the manners to put me in a different room."� Loki replied, waving his hand lazily in the air. A book appearing in his hand. He went about reading it. A few more minutes passed.

****

"Loki." Fury called, and Loki hummed to show he was listening. "We've decided to put you in the care of Dr. Banner."�

****

"Interesting." Loki said vaguely, flipping the page of his book.

****

"Brother, are you listening?" Thor asked. Loki sighed, closing the book.

****

"I've sat in this room for three hours, silently. I payed attention to you. Now that I've decided to read, you want me to pay attention to you?"� Loki asked, making the book disappear in a puff of smoke. "This Dr. Banner, which one is he?"�

****

"Me." Bruce spoke up, raising his hand. Loki's green eyes landed on him, flicking up and down. One would believe he was sizing up Bruce, but in reality, Loki found the doctor mildly attractive.

****

"Right, I'll be staying with you, then?" Loki questioned after a moment.

****

"Yes."� Bruce responded. Loki nodded.

****

"Very well, do take me away then." Loki responded dismissively, hand waving in the air. Bruce raised an eyebrow.

****

"You're not going to argue?"� He questioned, slightly weary.

****

"Why would I?"� Loki questioned, adding on, "I approve of you."�

****

"Wow, Loki's approval. Who woulda thought?"� Tony asked sarcastically. Loki rolled his eyes. "No, really, it must be _such_ an honor."� Tony added.

****

"Well, doctor, do lead the way."�

****

Bruce's home was rather far off from the city. It was nice, though. And it did have three guest rooms. Bruce had read the strange guide prior, and had chosen a room that fit the parameters. Loki seemed content with the room, and had changed it to fit his tastes with a snap of his fingers.

****

Loki had then demanded Bruce leave so he could properly check out the room, to which Bruce obeyed and went about finding his own room. Perhaps to nap, since the day had been long, and awful. He figured he could deal with his forced upon guest in an hour, or two. Three, if he stretched it.

****

Bruce woke up two hours later, just as tired as he was when he had fallen asleep, but now a bit more ready to face his forced guest. He found his guest curled up on his couch in the living room, nose deep in a book. Eyes flying from one side of the page to the other.

****

Bruce didn't really see the need to interact with Loki yet, so he sat down on the other end of the couch and turned on his tv. He put on a documentary about giraffes, and half listened to it. He was tired,  _ god  _ he was tired. But he stayed awake since it was only seven and he didn't want to pass out now and wake up at three. Besides, he hadn't eaten dinner yet.

****

"Loki," Bruce finally spoke up, as he turned on another documentary.

****

"Yes?"� Loki questioned, bright green eyes leaving the book and settling onto Bruce.

****

"You're staying at my house."� Bruce stated.

****

"That would appear to be my current predicament, yes."� Loki responded.

****

"So I think I should lay some ground rules down."� Bruce stated.

****

"That would be appropriate if I'm staying at your house, yes." Loki confirmed.

****

"So, the first rule is actually a SHIELD rule,"� Bruce began, "You can't leave the house without me."�

****

"Very well."

****

"I guess the second rule is not to take my stuff without permission," Bruce stated, and he admitted to himself these rules were being made up on the fly.

****

"Obviously," Loki agreed, "And I expect you to do the same."�

****

"Right, third rule is not to go into the lab unless I'm there." Bruce continued.

****

"Understandable."� Loki agreed.

  
" Fourth is, I guess, to stay out of my room, to." Bruce added.

  
" I expect you shall do that same for me." Loki responded. Bruce nodded.

  
" And you'll be expected to keep up chores." Bruce stated. Loki nodded.

****

"Is that all?"� Loki questioned.

****

"Yes."�

  
"V ery well."� Loki's response seemed to end the conversation for a few more minutes before Bruce spoke up again.

****

"Are you hungry?" Bruce asked into the air.

****

"Very."� Loki stated.

****

"I'll make some food then." Bruce responded, getting up and walking to the kitchen.

****

The problem with this, of course, was that Bruce could not make anything other than toast without fear of burning his entire house to the ground. Nonetheless, he had a guest over, and it was common courtesy not to make the guest cook, so he went about attempting to make some food.

****

Loki's nose picked up the smell of burning food pretty quickly. An amused little smirk made it's way to his face as he closed the book, putting it down on the couch and turned his head to see the doctor attempting to cook. Loki got up, walking over.

****

"Doctor, you appear to have a problem."� He stated. The doctor sighed, shoulders slumping. Loki's smirk turned into a grin. "Can you not cook?"�

****

"No." Bruce admitted, throwing the charred remains of whatever he had just tried to cook away. Loki held back a laugh.

****

"Well, it must be fate. I happen to be _excellent_ at cooking."� Loki stated in amusement, making shooing motions towards Bruce in a mocking fashion. Loki went about grabbing the ingredients he needed and Bruce backed away, watching in interest.

****

Loki finished cooking about ten minutes later. Accomplishing what genuinely looked like a culinary masterpiece versus the charred death Bruce had managed to make in the same time frame. Loki gave a plate of his frankly delicious smelling food to the doctor.

****

Bruce was not ashamed to admit that he scarfed that food down. Like, one minute it was there, the next it was gone. Loki took a slower time eating, but it amused him greatly to watch Bruce wolf it down so quickly. It made him proud to know his food might actually be good.

****

"You really are excellent at cooking."� Bruce commented as he wiped his mouth. Loki smiled.

****

"I did tell you, did I not?"� Loki responded, finishing his own food.

****

"Yeah, you did."�

****

"It's really good," Bruce pressed, taking the plates and putting them in the sink. The process was calming.

****

"Yes, I'm aware,"� Loki continued. Bruce began doing the dishes, and Loki went about cleaning the counters and stove. They worked quietly, in contentment.

****

"We should head to sleep." Bruce stated once he had finished the dishes. Loki nodded.

****

"You should,"� Loki confirmed.

****

"You sleep to." Bruce responded, "You need sleep to."�

  
" Very well," Loki responded with an amused smirk, "I'll sleep as well."�

****

They headed off to their respective rooms. Bruce passed out, almost immediately. Loki actually did try to sleep, and he succeeded. Sleep drifting in and out of him until he managed to actually stay asleep. His sleep burned his brain, leaving him drenched in sweat as he awoke, an unplaced terror from nightmares he couldn't remember and panic crawling through his skin. He couldn't sleep after, and stayed awake for hours like that. Scared, shaking, and unable to move from the fear that buried him alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> OKEE SO JSUT TO MAKE SURE YOU ALL KNOW, BUT THE CHAP TITLE/BEGINING NOTES WILL NOT ALWAYS RELATE TO THE CHAPTER ITSELF.


	3. Make Sure Loki’s Basic Functional Needs Are Met.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One shall also ensure that Loki eats three meals a day, drinks a proper amount of water, and has an appropriate amount of sleep. One shall also make sure Loki takes showers regularly so he does not walk around One’s home smelling like amassed body odor and garbage. If these are not met, One’s Loki shall perish.  One shall also make sure Loki has a proper bedtime and awakening time, only to be unused during the weekends. One’s Loki can, and will be most like a child.
> 
> If possible, One should also regularly check on their Loki’s throughout the night to ensure Loki has slept, and also that they have not woken from nightmares.

The thought of a new internal clock made him sigh again, because really, when was he ever going to get one of those? His had been screwed into him for such a long time, there was no  _ time  _ to fix it. He sat up, fumbling around on the bedside table. Snatching the glasses and putting them on his face. The world suddenly went into a clear, sharper focus. He checked the time again.  _ God _ , it was early. Did anyone else wake up this early? ****  
** **

Bruce wandered into his bathroom, splashing water onto his face and waking himself up before filing downstairs. He went about making tea, since he didn't own coffee. Bruce plopped himself on his couch, grabbing a book from his bookshelf, flipping through it. He was reading about some medicines, when he heard a door slam open. He jumped, because who had just disturbed his quiet atmosphere? This should not be allowed, he had the other guy to keep down!  ****  
** **

Loki's sleep deprived form appeared at the base of the stairs, looking like death itself as he wandered into the kitchen. He wasted no time finding breakfast foods in Bruce's kitchen. Snatching them like they had personally offended him and throwing them together to cook. Bruce watched it unfold. It felt rather surreal to watch the god cook food. Loki suddenly turned, his glare turned full force to Bruce. ****  
** **

"Where do you keep the coffee?" He hissed, hostility unmatched by anyone else Bruce had encountered. And he had encountered a lot of hostile people. Agent Hill was scary on her own, but without coffee? Phil Coulson was nice enough, but without coffee? Nick Fury, well, Bruce wasn't even going to think about Fury without coffee, something he wished he had never witnessed. Did all SHIELD agents survive on coffee? Bruce felt sad about Phil. ** **  
****

"I don't have coffee, actually-" ** **  
****

"How do you manage that?" Loki hissed forcefully, "The one, good thing on Midgard and of course you don't have it." ** **  
****

"Hey-" ** **  
****

"Save it." Loki snapped, turning back to the food he was cooking. Bruce sighed, standing up and walking into the kitchen. He pulled out a box of tea. ** **  
****

"I have some tea," He offered, holding out the box. Loki regarded it like it was an entirely foreign object. Or like it might suddenly sprout fangs and attack him. Both seemed like things Loki either was or was about to do, so Bruce readied himself to sprint at a moment's notice. ** **  
****

"Tea," Loki stated, before snatching the box from Bruce's hands, "it'll do." he grumbled, making himself a cup as he served Bruce bacon and eggs. Apparently, Loki could also make scrambled eggs taste like heaven, which was saying something considering how much Bruce despised scrambled eggs. ** **  
****

Loki was too busy downing the entire cup of tea and eating his food like it was his last meal to care. He hated mornings. Especially mornings that felt like death because he had only slept for an hour, and had spent the entire night shaking and completely, utterly, unable to move in his bed because of a complete and utter fear drowning him. ****  
** **

Really, Loki wasted no time on manners. Usually, he did. Today, he was feeling like sleep deprived shit piled on non-caffeinated shit piled on even  _ more  _ shit. Loki just felt awful. He also had a headache forming, which was only stacking up on the reasons he hated today. Bruce was slightly intimidated by the god, who appeared ready to murder. ****  
** **

"I demand you procure some coffee the next time you go out." Loki stated, finishing his food and throwing the dishes in the sink. He wiped the stove and counters down again, before making a book appear out of thin air. Curling up on the couch and appearing to ignore the world in favor of reading. ** **  
****

Okay, this was  _ beyond  _ surreal. Bruce wondered whether or not he was still dreaming, or if he had imagined Loki last night. The Loki this morning seemed, well,  _ hostile _ . Okay, that was an understatement. Loki seemed like he would murder someone for just greeting him. In fact, Bruce was sort of afraid to sit on the couch, for fear of unleashing Loki's complete wrath upon him, so Bruce chose to stand about in his kitchen, until Loki at least seemed calm enough to be within a three foot radius without fear of  _ literally losing a limb _ .  ****  
** **

Okay, it's been forty-five minutes. Loki has legitimately not moved a muscle. Still curled up in what Bruce can only assume is pure, tense, hostile, muscle. Bruce is vaguely afraid. Bruce went to sit on the couch, and Loki did not move. In fact, Loki has appeared not to notice Bruce's existence. In fact, Loki looks like he hasn't noticed anything other than the book exists. Bruce turned on Nat Geo on the tv. ****  
** **

Okay, fine. Bruce could deal with this.

****

~

****

Bruce _ could not  _ deal with this. In fact, he felt like he might be the worst person in the world to deal with this. In fact, Bruce was pretty sure literally anybody on the planet could be better at this. Actually, now that Bruce thought about it, why did he get stuck with this? He's supposed to be avoiding stress, not housing super-villains with amnesia who probably caused more stress on an international level than he  _ ever _ could just for existing. ****  
** **

Loki does not move much. In fact, Loki appears to only have three settings. Sleep, bathroom, and Book. Loki does not appear to do anything other than sleep, use the restroom, and read. Bruce finds this irritating. Honestly, if Bruce didn't tell Loki to eat, or tell Loki to drink fluids, or tell Loki to sleep, Bruce was honesty sure Loki wouldn't. In fact, Bruce knew this was true, because he had witnessed it. Like, yesterday. ****  
** **

Bruce has a job, what he does is unimportant, but it does require using the seven PhDs he had. This job is odd and requires him most hours of the day. To which Loki has no quarrels with, since he, again, only has three settings, and none of them include a Be Worried Or Even Care For Bruce's Existence function. Bruce had been leaving Loki at his home alone because, well, Loki did nothing but read, and he did have locks on his doors. Besides, he didn't keep anything particularly dangerous in his house anyways. Regardless, Bruce had been under the impression that Loki was doing relatively okay at his home, by himself.  ****  
** **

Until, of course, he  _ asked  _ Loki. ****  
** **

Now, it's not as though Bruce had been neglecting or ignoring Loki. In fact, Bruce would argue it was the opposite, because Loki literally does nothing but curl up in various places around Bruce's home and read. For hours. Just.  _ Reading _ . Â Bruce had been working a week, and he just figured Loki wasn't hungry whenever he came home. So, he hadn't expected Loki's stomach to growl. Like an animal. That had been starved for a month. Naturally, the sound had prompted the question: ****  
** **

"You sound hungry, when was the last time you ate?" ** **  
****

"Three days ago," Loki had replied, like it was a normal, acceptable, even _casual_ , response. He hadn't even looked up from the book. Bruce had been shocked. Also, irritated. This guy was a god! For shit's sake, couldn't the guy, like, take care of himself? And, did Loki _seriously_ do nothing but read? Even Bruce couldn't manage that, and he was most certainly the nerd that told you books were your friends. He's actually done that once, okay, fine, on several occasions. ** **  
****

"What about the last time you drank some water?" Bruce had questioned next, expecting the rational answer of something around, oh he didn't know, _maybe an hour ago_. ** **  
****

"Three days ago." Came Loki's reply again. Bruce felt a little bit of dread seeping into his irritance. He really couldn't trust the god of lies. To do anything. Because Loki hadn't fucking eaten in three days. Or drank water in three days. He literally just reads. And reads. And reads. This was concerning. ** **  
****

"What?" Bruce had asked, somewhat mortified. Loki had looked up from the book, then, and it appeared he really hadn't slept in that time frame, either. Which was concerning to Bruce because making sure Loki at least slept, was something Bruce did manage to do over the week. It appeared this was not the case. ** **  
****

"Is there something wrong?" Loki had asked, and then looked around as though maybe he would spot some man-eating gerbils or something. Which, Loki honestly thought was more likely than someone being worried for his health. The last time he had been asked that question, he was in the healing room because he'd passed out from malnutrition. ** **  
****

"Yes," Bruce had responded, as though the answer was one Loki should have expected, "you should have eaten! Or at least drank some water, or something, in the past three days. Jesus, have you even slept?"� ** **  
****

"I do try to sleep." Loki had responded, somewhat attempting to defend himself, "And it's not as though I'm doing you any harm." ** **  
****

"That doesn't mean it's okay to just stop eating. And drinking." Bruce had responded, affronted. Loki looked honestly so confused Bruce actually couldn't stay irritated. ** **  
****

"Whatever." Loki had then said, which irritated Bruce all over again as Loki turned back to the book. Bruce felt like perhaps ripping the book away from Loki, and maybe burning it. Unfortunately, Bruce did not like the idea of burning books, nor did he favor the small five second mental image of Loki's reaction to Bruce doing something as horrible as burning a book, and even more specifically, _his_ book.  
  
"You need to eat." Bruce had instead demanded, as if this would somehow just make Loki do what he wanted. Loki had sighed and looked up at Bruce, which caused Bruce to take a moment to stop marvelling at the rather intense shade of green, when Loki opened his mouth to speak. ** **  
****

"Fine," He had said in a rather glum tone, as if the thought of leaving the book for even a second was similar to tearing off a limb or carrying out a death sentence. Bruce hadn't expected an easy win like this, so he had to stop and think about what he was going to say next.

" Good." He had managed, and then Loki stood up and walked into the kitchen and Bruce was stuck wondering how he got left with such a child. Loki wasn't even a child, he was a fucking god, which just added to the irritating feeling scratching at Bruce.

"Bruce, are you aware that you have the rotting corpse of a fish in your fridge?" Loki questioned, voice sort of amused, but seemed to have genuinely curious tone. It was also heavily diluted with disinterest, but that was in everything Loki did if it wasn't, well, reading. Of course, Bruce reasoned that Loki could also be disinterested in reading, but Loki didn't seem the kind of person to do things he was disinterested in on such a regular, almost completely unstopped, basis. ****  
** **

"I do?" Bruce asked, standing up to check the fridge. He wrinkled his nose at the smell, peering at the rotting fish corpse. "When did that get there?" ****  
** **

"I don't know," Loki replied, raising an eyebrow, "Did you not put it there?"

"No, I didn't," Bruce responded. Loki shrugged, grabbing the corpse and throwing it in the trashcan, before washing his hands. Bruce wondered how Loki could be so calm touching the rather disgusting looking corpse, but didn't question it, instead rather grateful he didn't have to throw the corpse away. ** **  
****

"Strange," Loki commented, shrugging it off and pulling some ingredients out of the various cabinets. Bruce wondered where and when he even got some of these ingredients, since he doesn't remember buying anything other than bread or microwavable foods since, well, _ever_. Actually, where were his Lean Cuisines and Eggos? Now that he thought about it, he avoided breakfast and had taken to eating at Tony's so much, he barely remembered ever needing to eat at home anyway. ** **  
****

"Where did all this food come from?" Brue questioned as he watched Loki cook. Loki shrugged again, uninterested as he cooked. Bruce went about to ponder the mystery, before Loki served food, ate, and then went back to reading. Bruce took out the trash and then went about watching Nat Geo Wild.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okee so this was hopefully better written the the last to, heh, heh, I'm sorry I know it sucks but is okee shh. Also, again, my editor hasn't touched this so I apologize in the opposite of advance.


	4. Make Sure Loki Gets A Proper Amount of Sunlight and Social Interaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One’s Loki is inclined to read and do nothing else. One is inclined not to allow Loki to do this. Prying Loki away from books may result in serious injuries. One is inclined to have at least one conversation with Loki a week, before tapering into twice a week, and three times a week, until it becomes once a day. One should also ensure Loki gets sunlight for at least three hours every week.
> 
> One is aso again implored to check on their Loki’s throughout the night for already stated reasons.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I uploaded it wrong so there's no italics and the time/pov thing skips a little more than usual. Sorry about that!

Bruce’s eyes opened, causing an irritated glance to the clock. God, it was early. Why, why, why did he wake up so early? Maybe he really could find a new internal clock online. He sure as hell needed one. God, he didn’t actually have to go to work for another five hours. He snatched the glasses from his bedside table, watching the world go from blurry to clear as he went to the bathroom to splash his face with water and walk downstairs.

The sight of Loki lying on his couch, asleep made him stop moving. One of Loki’s arms was draped across his stomach, and the other over the edge of the couch. A book half open in it. It appeared he fell asleep reading, which concerned Bruce since he knew he had sent Loki to go sleep in his own room. Which meant Loki snuck into his living room at some point through the night and read till he passed out. Also, shirtless. Loki was shirtless and wore really loose fitting green silky pajama pants. Loki even looked elegant and attractive while asleep. Bruce wondered if they taught classes on how to be elegant and attractive and graceful and all the things that made Loki so, well, Loki, somewhere.

Bruce quietly crept into the kitchen and made himself some tea. Opting not to use the kettle and just use a small pot full of boiling water. He wouldn’t want to wake Loki, who honestly looked like he was getting the best sleep he had had all week. Bruce sat down on his arm chair by the couch, clutching his cup of rather aromatic tea as he cupped it closer to himself. Loki’s fingers twitched, before his eyes snapped open. They furrowed slightly at the sight of Bruce, before he shifted position and fell asleep again. God, this was so fucking surreal to Bruce. Did Loki ever just keep a mood? Also, Loki was shirtless. That was surreal to. He was shirtless. Shirtless and with the literal body of a god.

Loki’s eyes snapped open half an hour later, and he rolled over onto his stomach for a second. He liked the smell of the room, which naturally made him reach over the arm of the couch and onto Bruce’s arm chair, where he took Bruce’s drink and drank the rest of it. His eyes silently challenged Bruce to protest. Bruce stared, and took the cup back when Loki was done with it. So. Fucking. Surreal. Loki breathed in rather deeply, once. Then he exhaled and flopped back onto his side and promptly fell asleep again. He did not wake for another hour.

When he did finally wake, he sat up, rubbed his eyes, combed his fingers through his hair, turned, and then took Bruce’s cup of tea again. This was actually Bruce’s second cup of tea, since Loki had finished his first one. Bruce stared as he watched Loki turn away again and stared at Loki’s back. His shirtless back. The fact that Loki was shirtless kindly refused to leave his brain, which made Bruce stare. Apparently the holes he was boring into Loki's back must have been felt, because he promptly twisted his upper body and stared at Bruce with an almost childish curiosity, before his lips filtered in an amused smirk.

“Doctor?” He called, amusement in his tone. “You appear to be staring at me, perhaps if you plan to continue, you should try being a bit more subtle?”

“Right,” Bruce replied, a bit horrified but more over relieved he wasn’t going to be teased to greatly. As if sensing Bruce’s relief, Loki’s smirk grew dangerously close to a grin, which unnerved Bruce.

“Of course, you could take a picture. Those tend to last longer. I’d even pose for you, if you wanted.” As if to prove this statement, Loki did a mock pose. Before curling up on the corner of the couch and beginning to read the book that had fallen. Bruce watched for a minute, before turning on the TV. He had an hour before he needed to go to work, and watching random cat videos on YouTube was frankly more appealing than sitting in silence whilst making cups of tea and having them stolen from him every five minutes by the god on the couch beside him who appeared to do nothing but read. Not that him watching random cat videos stopped this from happening, but at least Bruce got to watch random cat videos while it happened. Bruce stopped remaking cups of tea after cup thirty-two. It was frankly surprising how much tea Bruce owned. Now that he thought about it, perhaps stockpiling an entire pantry with nothing but different kinds of tea and growing several different plants of which roughly fifty percent were, in fact, things you could incorporate into tea, was a bit excessive. Except, of course, Bruce loved tea and he would honestly fight someone for more tea.

~  
Bruce stepped into the lab at Stark Industries, sigh already leaving his lips as he rubbed his face in something similar to a stress-driven face palm. His mind wandering on to how much work he was realizing he actually had to put into taking care of Loki. Literally taking care of Loki to, because Loki does nothing but read and it was making him stress. Green hugged him, not necessarily a threat to his control but more like a suggestion. He pushed it away because he could handle stress, so he sighed one more time and straightened himself up to go sit at a desk and review samples and compare different substances and work on things like his scientist mind was supposed to.

“You good, Brucey?” Tony asked, and his voice was so equally concerned and amused Bruce couldn’t decipher which it was.

“Fine,” Bruce replied, plopping onto the chair by his desk and beginning to science. Tony shrugged, since he had his own science thing to do. Which involved his newest invention, a telepathic communicator thing for those born completely and utterly paralyzed. It was probably going to take years to finish, and occasionally Bruce would chip in, but generally he worked on it alone and when he had free time. Which, given his status as a genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist, and super hero, he had a lot of. They worked in silence, which was how they always worked. It suited them, working silently and occasionally asking each other random questions whenever they needed another person’s opinion.

“Hey Brucey, how’s your Loki situation?” Tony suddenly asked after throwing himself in a chair and taking a large sip of coffee and alcohol mixed together. Exhaustion and the urge to give up flooding his mind before being washed away by pure caffeine and alcohol.

“Fine,” Bruce replied, tone as vague and uninterested as possible as he peered at something through a microscope.

“Great,” Tony responded, before deciding the subject wasn’t worth continuing and chugging the rest of his coffee and alcohol mixture. He decided to take a break from his project and fuck around with modifying the newest AI he was creating. It was for suit he was designing, though not for himself. More for a superhero who had caught his eye recently.

“What’s that?” Bruce asked curiously, deciding he should not get increasingly more frustrated with his own experiment, like he was doing right now, and take a break for a moment. He eyed the suit Tony seemed to be designing, walking over to look at it.

~  
Loki stopped reading his book. A rather rare occurrence, admittedly, but nonetheless it did happen. Loki took a moment to look at the thing which had disturbed his reading. Ironically enough, it was actually another book. He wasn’t entirely sure where the book came from, but it was a cookbook and now he was curious about it. He put a bookmark in his book and made it disappear before grabbing the cookbook and opening it.

~  
Bruce opened his door with a sigh, before nearly slamming it shut in surprise. Loki was not, in fact, curled up reading somewhere, but rather, cooking food. Bruce waved away the random smash of green as he took a deep calming breath. His surprise draining out quickly to be replaced with confusion as he took off his shoes and walked over to the kitchen, following the absolutely delicious smell coming out of it.

“Loki?” He called questioningly. The god turned his head to Bruce. He continued to absentmindedly stirred whatever he was making in the pot. He was still shirtless, of course, except now he was wearing an apron. Bruce tried not to stare.

“There was a cookbook on the coffee table,” Loki said in mild explanation as to why he was suddenly not reading, “And I wanted to try a recipe in it.”

“Oh,” Bruce replied, feeling a bit dumb as he formulated a response. Was putting a cookbook in front of Loki really all it took? Who put the cookbook in front of Loki? Bruce sent a silent thank you to whoever did.

“Yes, now go sit down and wait for me to be finished,” Loki replied, turning back to the food he was cooking. Bruce went to go sit on the couch, but stopped when he caught sight of something he desperately hoped he hadn’t seen. He peered under the table and yep, that was definitely a rotting tarantula corpse under the table. Well, great. Bruce wasn’t afraid of spiders per say, but a rotting tarantula corpse really did serve to creep him out. Small rush of green pushed away by a rather unstable dam of shaky calmness as he sat back up from the creepy sight.

“Loki?” He called, voice strangely calm as he turned his gaze to the god.

“Yes?” Loki called back, still rather intensely stirring what was in the pot.

“Why is there a rotting tarantula corpse under my coffee table?” He questioned, glancing back at it to make sure it hadn’t, like, moved or something. He may be a scientist but even he was allowed to be irrationally scared of random rotting tarantula corpses that popped up under his coffee table all of a sudden.

“I don’t know,” Loki replied as he poured the contents of the pot over the meat he had put on a serving platter. The smells mixing made Bruce’s mouth water and fight back the green with renewed ambition. Loki seemed rather content with his creation, triumphant smirk and victorious look on his features. The joy in his eyes made Bruce’s fingers twitch. He would like to keep that expression on Loki’s face. The moment, rare and precious, passed as Loki set the food down on the counter and threw the tarantula corpse in the garbage. He washed his hands and grabbed himself a plate of the food he’d just made, sitting down on the couch and watching Bruce copy his actions.

“This is good,” Bruce stated as he took a few bites. “What is it?”

“It’s steak,” Loki said rather vaguely, “With sauce.”

“It’s good,” Bruce repeated, before adding a small afterthought, “You should teach me to cook sometime.”

“Really?” Loki asked, sounding less excited than he actually was. That was, to say, he sounded completely disinterested. But his eyes had a light not very many people could pick out. Bruce smiled at them for a second.

“Yeah.”

~  
Loki’s eyes snapped open, fear drowning him in seconds as he tried to remember what part of his dream or, he figured, nightmare, had actually scared him. Nothing came to mind, because he couldn’t remember anything. He thought about moving, to perhaps turn on the light, but he felt panic settling in at the thought. He took a deep breath. Than another, and another, and another, and another-

He sat up as quickly as he could, inhaling as deeply as possible. His hands were shaking, no, that appeared to be his entire body shaking. He combed one hand through his hair, taking another breath as he fumbled around the bedside table for the lamp switch. The room lit up, and he felt safer. He let out a breath and his head hit the wall behind him, eyes closing shut as he tried to relax and maybe stop the shaking.

Tears. Oh, great, now they have to come? He bit his lip, hands coming to tug at his hair before covering his eyes. Silent sobs. He learned how to do that a while ago. To silently cry. Unplaceable sadness and an empty feeling. He hated all of this. He’d never cried over this before. Then again, he’d never woken up in unplaceable fear from nightmares ne never remembered on a constant basis before. Silent sobs. Silent because that’s how he learned it was best to cry.

~  
Bruce woke up earlier than normal, feeling rather uncomfortable as he sat up and put on his glasses. Checking the clock to see the yes, it was, in fact a little earlier than usual. He looked around, and suddenly dread was filling his stomach.

Corpses. Hundreds of them. Cockroach corpses all of his floor, not one was alive but it still served to make Bruce incredibly uneasy and paranoid as he tentatively stepped off from his bed. Waves of green pushed away. He made his way to the door to find more. More cockroach corpses, all over the floors and as he went downstairs to fetch a broom, more corpses on the floor downstairs. More and more and more. Bruce felt overwhelmingly sick with green, which he pushed down. Dread and horror in him and what he could only describe as anger radiating from every corpse. Not his own, but they were a message. One he didn’t know, but it was anger. Bruce knew anger. He knew anger, and he knew that's what the corpses meant as he went about cleaning it up.

Bruce’s eyes snapped open again, and he instinctively turned on the light and put on his glasses. Sitting up as he looked at the floor. Nothing. Had he dreamed the cockroaches? It had been so vivid. So real. He shook his head as a pounding headache hit him. Perhaps he should call in sick. God, his head hurt. He stumbled out of the bed, one hand on his head. He checked the clock to find it was a lot later than normal. He was definitely calling sick. Bruce got into the shower, headache pounding his head.

Bruce got out of the shower and changed quickly. He was going to put on a robe or something, but he realized he had a forced guest over, so he put on his normal clothing, called in sick, and stumbled downstairs. He found Loki lying on the couch with a blanket over him, in much the same position as the day prior. Bruce went about silently making tea and found three ant corpses in his sink, which he washed down the drain. Boiling water in a pot and pouring it into a mug. He had made his own little concoction for tea this time. Something to help with his headache, he hoped. He made the same tea as he yesterday morning for Loki, since Loki seemed to like it, putting it in one of his cool mugs that had lids for them so it’d stay warm till the god woke up. The mugs had been a gift from Tony. He sat on his armchair, holding Loki’s drink in one hand and sipping his tea in the other hand.

Loki woke up in much the same fashion as the previous day, sitting up and reaching to steal Bruce’s tea from him. Before Loki could snatch Bruce’s headache tea concoction, Bruce stopped Loki’s hand by holding out the mug for Loki. Loki blinked, confusion on his half-awake features. Bruce offered a rather small smile, before wincing at a particularly painful stab from his headache.

“You liked the tea I made yesterday, so I made you some this morning,” Bruce stated, and Loki stared at the mug like it was a foreign object.

“You made tea,” He began slowly, half-awake mind trying to process, “For me, because you knew I liked it?”

“Yes,” Bruce confirmed, “I made tea for you.” Loki seemed to process this, and he silently took the cup, sitting up further so his back was actually on the back of the couch, and he curled up, mug clutched in his hands. Bruce was again hit with the likeness Loki was to a child, as he watched Loki unlid the mug and put the lid next to him on the couch. Breathing in the smell of the tea and feeling the steam hit his face. Loki took small sips. He was quiet in a way the was different. Nostalgic, almost. Loki looked like he wanted to say something, but he didn’t. Instead focusing on Bruce as another stab of pain hit his head and watching him wince a little bit and hurriedly sip some more tea.

“Do you have a headache?” Loki asked finally, already knowing the answer as he watched Bruce.

“Yes, but it’ll pass,” Bruce replied, sipping some more of his tea. Loki put his cup of tea on the coffee table and stood up rather suddenly. Bruce barely had time to register this before Loki’s hands were suddenly on either side of his head.

Leaving Loki’s face rather close, and Bruce wondered if the proximity was necessary. His breath stopped. The world stopped. A moment stuck there as they both looked into each other's eyes. Loki blinked, which seemed to release the dam of emotions and shock flooded Bruce’s system way to late as Loki sat back down on the couch. Taking his tea and sipping from it. Bruce blinked a few more times to regain sense, and realized his headache was gone. Bruce finished his tea, and Loki leaned back on the couch. The world spun some more and Bruce watched Loki make a book appear, sipping at his tea as he read.

“Is your headache gone?” Loki asked suddenly, eyes not leaving the book as he took another sip of tea. He set the mug down, done with it.

“Yes, I guess I have you to thank for that?” Bruce questioned as he turned to watch Loki. Mind turning, maybe he should give Loki that weekly dose of sunlight the guide mentioned.

“You needn’t thank me,” Loki replied, “It’s in return for the tea.”

“You didn’t have to give me anything back for the tea,” Bruce stated, a small trickle of horror washed away in the swirl of other emotions.

“I didn’t?” Loki questioned, eyes looking up from the book and settling into Bruce’s, curiosity and mild confusion held in them.

“No, that was just a gesture of kindness. A gift.” Bruce tried to explain, “I did it just to be nice.”

“Well, than the headache relief was the same... “ Loki searched for a term, “Gesture,” Came the dry follow. A few minutes of silence, and Bruce noted how Loki seemed to be very reminiscent about something.

“Loki?” Bruce spoke up, catching Loki’s drifting attention.

“Yes?” Loki questioned, turning again to him.

“Get dressed, we’re going outside,” Bruce replied, and watched Loki scowl. He obliged though, clothes changing on his form without him moving very far as he stood up.

“Why must we go outside, as opposed to you going outside,” Loki practically whined, “Alone.”

“Because, you’re always inside,” Bruce reasoned, “And I’m supposed to be in charge of you. Getting some fresh air and sunlight is a part of that.”

“Of course,” Loki stated sarcastically, a cold eye roll following, “This has nothing to do with a certain booklet, or rather, guide, written by my daughter, at all, as well,”

“Even if it did,” Bruce responded, “It wouldn’t matter, since you're still going outside with me.”

“Fine,” Loki sighed, “And where, do tell, are we going?”

“I don’t know,” Bruce replied honestly, “Just for a walk or something.” Loki sighed rather audibly as they reached the door, both stopping as Loki opened it. He paused for a moment, expression unreadable as he looked forward.

“Doctor?” Loki suddenly spoke in the strange pause, and his voice held something strange, unreadable, almost. Raw. “Thank you, for the tea.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oh Wow Things Got A Little More Interesting ALSO Please Bare With Me A Little Further Until We Can Get Into ACTUAL Plot ANd Then The Chaps Will Get Longer I Swear.
> 
> Also I'm sorry, I did HTML instead of Rich Text and I'm to lazy and sorta late to fix it.
> 
> ALSO COMMENT PLEASE


	5. A Further Note Upon Giving Loki A Regular Dose Of Social Interaction

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Topics for conversations include: Books, the book he’s reading, his love of books, occasionally one might bring up the subject How To Lie, his love for cooking, cooking in general, any of his various hobbies, how to speak long-dead languages, fashion, how One could improve upon their fashion related choices, any of One’s Loki’s various hobbies. One is implored not to bring up his children, nor his family in general.
> 
> If One does not check on their Loki’s throughout the night fr previously stated reasons, One will suffer worse consequences.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Eyy this is a little short I think, but yeah. Also, soft feels here, some angst.
> 
> ALSO, SEMI IMPORTANT: I stopped using Rich Text, because it was irritating me, so there won't be italiics/bold/etc anymore.

Well, fuck. Bruce sighs to himself as he takes in the situation. How did he get himself into this particular mess?

Bruce wasn’t entirely sure where he was going, but he figured teh park would be a good stop. Bruce always liked perks, they were calming. Plus, quiet. Bruce forgot to actually steer himself in the direction of the park, and ended up following Loki. Loki had no intention of going to the park, which is probably why there in their current situation.

The walls of the alleyway were dark and grimy, and they were currently waiting for SHIELD to come find them. Ordinarily, they’d call the cops, but Loki is still a criminal. A very, very, very dangerous criminal who is at the top of the wanted list. So, SHIELD. Loki wiped his mouth, which had blood staining the corners of it. Curiously enough, Bruce was almost positive Loki hadn’t been harmed in the small fight. Bruce raised an eyebrow, and looked behind Loki at the passed out men on the floor.

One guy’s arm looked bent a little wrong, and the other’s leg was bruised in a way that looked painfully like it was seconds from breaking. One, he realized, was not passed out. The man was groaning softly with a suspiciously bruised throat and a nose in an odd angle. The man turned onto his side and then back, rocking as he clutched his arm. Loki clapped his hands, as if wiping dust from them, before actually wiping imaginary dust from his clothes and smoothing out and wrinkles he saw. He seemed entirely indifferent to the situation, but Bruce suspected Loki was feeling something. He looked disappointed, or like he was trying to figure out something he did wrong.

Bruce wondered again how the fuck this happened.

Loki hadn’t been forced outside. There was no physical threat, nor even a hint of one. Just a demand. Ordinarily, Loki wouldn’t have even thought of going outside simply becasue he was told to, but Loki didn’t think Bruce was telling him to. Even if, Bruce had told him to. The way Bruce had spoken was off from what he had said. He had said, was, ‘get dressed, we’re going outside’. However, what it sounded like was ‘outside is fun and please come with me.’. Strange because not many people could convey that accurately with the tone of voice.

Regardless, Loki had gone outside with doctor, and they had set off in a direction with no clear goal or destination in mind. Loki had suspected Bruce might have had a destination, but after a few minutes it had become apparent that Bruce was t far in his thoughts and was actually following Loki. It was at this precise moment in noticing, that something caught Loki’s attention.

A flicker, he hadn’t even properly registered or seen it, but it felt familiar. Like a part of something he’d lost. It felt like he knew it, which was a strange way to feel about a flicker of something, but the feeling stuck. Naturally, Loki followed it. It felt like a game, walking to chase it and then seeing it somewhere else. Thrilling and exhausting.

He’d almost caught it when he realized him and Bruce were being followed. He barely noticed at first, but he was taught to never be off guard. Pretty soon, it became apparent that he was being followed. However, upon noticing being followed, he lost sight of the flicker. His irritation at this caused him to grab Bruce’s arm and pull him into an Alleyway, because the bastards following them needed to be taken care of.

Bruce, at this point, had begun to notice he did not know where they were, so when two guys brandishing a knife and a gun walked into the alley, his immediate terror was justified. Until, of course, Loki appeared behind them and took the weapons. Unfortunately, the men seemed unnaturally prepared for that, and retaliated by elbowing him.

This lead to a short fight which has now ended.

As if on cue, SHIELD arrived and began with the load up. An agent was ready to yell at them. Specifically Bruce, who was in charge of Loki, when Loki thor suddenly snatched the air in front of Bruce, desperation on his face for a split second. Bruce had time to register the small flicker in Loki’s hand before he took a few startled steps back.

~

Well, Loki and Bruce’s day outside definitely could have gone better. At least, that's what Bruce believes. Loki believes he never should have taken the flicker, because a memory came back and it kept loopin in his head. He couldn’t remember much, which was troubling. He thought the flicker would give him something more to go on, other than what he has now. Which was just  muddle of concepts and vague images.

Green, growling, pure rage.

Fear, fear, fear.

Pain.

MurderMurderMurderMurder

Te

Loki tried to piece together the flicker, but he had nothing else. Sighing, he went to read a book.

“Loki?” Bruce called from his place in the kitchen, currently making some tea for himself.

“What?” Loki snapped, because he was irritated at the lack of memories and the gaping hole in his mind. It felt empty and wrong and he desperately wanted to fix it. Unfortunately, he couldn’t. He almost felt scared, even lost. Where were his memories? Did he want them? Bruce forgot his question momentarily to look at Loki. His eyes searching for something, and Loki felt uncomfortable under his gaze. The feeling worsened under each passing moment, going from a normal discomfort and the beging to stem from things and places he couldn't remember. Bruce blinked, eyes snapping up to meet Loki’s.

“What’s wrong?” Bruce asked, and Loki glared.

“Nothing,” He replied, finding a calm in his center. Bruce stared at him. There was something wrong, Bruce could tell. Bruce wasn’t entirely sure how, but he knew.  
“Loki,” Bruce began, carefully thinking his next few words, “Do you want some tea?”

Loki’s face betrayed surprise for the briefest of seconds, filtering to confused and then to a calm sort of disinterest. Loki looked back down at his book, which he hadn't actually been reading for the past hour or two. He couldn't focus, and he felt his hands began the smallest of shakings. Loki closed the book.

Bruce noticed the shaking. He noticed Loki closing the book, and the emotional flashes. Bruce wondered if perhaps Loki would like to follow him into his lab. He figured that would be a good course of action, since then Loki would be able to keep his hands moving on things. Bruce had tons of science-y knick knacks to keep them both occupied. Besides, he figured if he made Loki curious, he could get Loki to come of his own volition.

“I’ll make you some tea,” Bruce stated, after a few minutes of Loki’s silence. “Then, after, do you want to come down to my lab with me?” Loki appeared curious the moment Bruce mentioned his lab. Bruce suppressed a little smile.

“Yes, that seems alright,” Loki replied. Bruce nodded and began to make tea.

Once the tea was done, Bruce handed Loki a mug and lead Loki to his lab. Loki, Bruce noticed, looked around the room with a curious expression. Loki took a sip of his tea as Bruce sat down by one of his computers and put a flash drive in. After a few moments, Bruce began to run various little tests and study.

Loki walked around the room and started tinkering with some of the machinery. Bruce began writing a rather long mathematical equation and sighed quietly to himself. Bruce did not like math, even though it was a large part of his job. Pretty soon, the equation, began to stretch onto the walls.

Bruce was very glad when he was done writing it, and he began running tests again. He took his time solving the equation, and when he was finally he done and said the answer and applied it to what he was testing, expecting a good response.

The test failed and Bruce let out a small, frustrated huff. Loki looked up from his place in the room, where he was looking at things under a microscope and playing with chemicals. (Bruce kept a closet full of harmless chemicals that he liked to mix up and see the reactions to relieve stress. It was almost as fun as concosting different teas, which he only stopped doing after he made a bunch of tea and had no one else to drink it.) Loki walked over and looked over the equation, and Bruce watched him.

Loki pulled a marker from the desk and crossed out two wrong numbers. Suddenly, the equation was solved. Loki looked at Bruce for a reaction, and Bruce stood there for a moment. Then he smiled rather widely, and Loki cracked his own hesitantly proud smile. They cheered in silence and when Bruce applied it to his test. The test work and he actually whooped out loud.

Bruce decided he probably shouldn’t continue the experiments until he saw Tony again at work. Loki went back to his corner of the lab, and Bruce wandered over. Loki threw in some weird golden dust at a pink vial, and it made a mini explosion. Loki’s eyes widened just a bit.

Bruce leapt into explain it.

They ended up staying awake until it was late, and when Loki went to sleep and he didn’t wake up scared. Bruce woke up at a decent time.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please comment. I mean it, comments make my day. I ask you not to ask me to update because it makes me uncomfortable. But, like, constructive criticism or something would be great. Or praise.


	6. Treat One’s Loki Correctly

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do not intentionally harm One’s Loki, do not intentionally cause stress to One’s Loki, do not do anything to mistreet One’s Loki. Do not act on anything if it is of ill intent of One’s Loki.
> 
> One has been temporarily forgiven for the not-checking. Please do not think this excuses One from the task.

Bruce places a cookbook on the coffee table, curious to see if it would actually do anything.

Bruce goes to work and finds Tony completely in the Almost Done With A Project and Therefore Unreachable In Their Current Headspace and Will Attack Like A Feral Animal If Contact is Attempted Zone and decides immediately that the man isn’t to be disturbed until it’s time for lunch. In which case he and Pepper may be forced to use and enact actual force to get the man to eat. Bruce ignores this in favor of turning back to his own experiments, and working on his project some more. It’s fun, actually, but he soon gets lost in his own little Science Mind Zone and soon forgets that lunch is a thing that even exists.

Bruce is half startled out of his headspace about three seconds after he finishes an equation by Pepper, whose frowning thoughtfully at him with a look that reads Go-Eat-I’ll-Deal-With-Tony-You-Awful-Scientists. Bruce heads up to the lounge to go find whatever all-american meal the captain has concocted. He finds that the blonde has made some very delicious smelling blueberry pie, some grilled cheeses, and from what he can both smell and sea in the oven, some chicken. He grabs a grilled cheese and some blueberry pie, which he's pretty sure weren't actually made to be eaten together, and eats them anyway.

Tony is literally dragged into the room by Pepper and a plate of food is shoved in front of him. “You can’t go back into the lab until you finish that.” Five minutes later, the food is gone and Tony scurries away with a very singular focus to finish whatever project he was on. Pepper sighs.

“I think that’s a new record for him,” She comments, and that’s the end of the conversation for a while. A few minutes later, Bruce returns to his own projects.

~

When Bruce comes home, the smell emanating from the kitchen is absolutely mouthwatering. He’s ready to eat, but when he turns to face the kitchen and make his way over to it, he finds that the food is still in the oven. With an hour left on the timer. Loki sits on the couch, legs crossed as he flips through another book. Bruce sighs and decides to settle on some tea.

Once the tea is done, Bruce sits himself down on the couch and turns on a random showing. It’s mostly History Channel, and he doesn’t actually pay attention to it. Loki, on the other hand, looks almost irritated by it. He keeps glancing up and glaring at the screen whilst flipping the pages of the book, and it takes a full ten minutes before Bruce finally gives into his curiosity.

“What is it?” He questions curiously.

“He was much more handsome in real life,” Loki responds, and Bruce turns to look at the character. He finds it’s a showing of Vikings, and holds back a small giggle until Loki continues on, “Also, this is somewhat inaccurate, as well.”

There’s a bit of laughter from Bruce, and when Loki looks over he almost wishes he could trap the moment in a jar. Instead, he settles for a small smile and then turns back to his book, which is infinitely more important. The episode ends a few minutes later, and Bruce ends up switching the channel to some Nat Geo Wild documentary or something.

When the timer beeps, Loki gets up and takes the food out of the oven and leaves it on the stove. He goes back to reading. Bruce patiently waits. A few hours, and the food is finally cooled down enough for Loki to serve, and they eat. Bruce loves it. Loki smiles small and proudly. It’s peaceful.

Bruce heads over to the lab to go mess around a little with one of his projects, and Loki follows along. Bruce doesn’t mind, and Loki doesn’t go to the closet full of fun, instead just sitting down and watching Bruce with a mild interest. Bruce feels a little self conscious but doesn’t comment. After an hour, Loki walks over to get a closer look at the man’t hands, and he starts asking questions.

Bruce answers whatever he can, and he kinda likes it. It’s fun to be able to explain things to people. They stay up late again before they fall asleep. It’s all very peaceful.

And that’s really how the whole week goes by. Bruce leaves a cookbook on the table and goes to work. He gets home, Loki’s cooking, and then they head into the lab to do sciencey things. Bruce even gives Loki a few books about science (Even though that did make the god a little snippy.) and it’s all very content and peaceful.

For a week.

After that, the questions become a little more personal. The conversations stray from science-curious to normal curious. What are your hobbies? Where do you work? What was it like in the 1200’s? (Ugh, no. Had been the answer. Bruce still has no idea what that even meant.). The answers are always sort of short and guarded on both ends, but the fact that they were going in that direction at all was rather concerning. It meant something, and they weren’t entirely sure what.

Bruce forgets to leave the cookbooks on the coffee table. It happened a few nights in a row because he’d been on the verge of a breakthrough or another. He got another one of those troubling dreams. (Maggots instead of cockroaches this time.). Loki retreated back to the Nothing-But-Books-Matter Place, and it was starting to go down hill all over again.

“When was the last time you ate?” Bruce questions, and Loki looks over.

“I’m afraid my answer may upset you,” Loki responds. Bruce looks over at him.

“Three days.” Loki says, and Bruce sighs. He knew it was partly his fault, but he also knew that if he tried the cookbook thing again, he’d forget again, and it’d start another mess and he really didn’t think that was healthy for either of them.

So he does the natural thing, and brings Loki to work the next day

**Author's Note:**

> HOPE YOU LIKED IT PLEASE COMMENT AND KUDOS AND GIMME SOME OTHER TAGS I CAN USE


End file.
